Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) announced today that he will soon be introducing legislation that would decriminalize marijuana across the United States.

In an interview with VICE News Schumer called the legislation “long overdue”, and said that “too many people” have been effected by the plant’s prohibiton.

“I’ll be introducing legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level from one end of the country to the other,” said Schumer, who is the leading Democrat in the Senate. Schumer’s announcement comes just weeks after the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) announced legislation that would legalize hemp.

“I’ve seen too many people’s lives ruined because they had small amounts of marijuana and served time in jail, much too long”, says Schumer. “Ultimately, it’s the right thing to do. Freedom.” Schumer adds; “If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal?”

Schumer’s commitment to file marijuana decriminalization legislation comes just days after President Trump made a commitment to respect state marijuana laws, and to support efforts to change federal law.